Bringing Back Familiar Forms

Recycling Quina Scrapers at the Late Lower Palaeolithic Qesem Cave, Israel

Bibliographic Data

ID19218705
AuthorsBar Efrati (0000-0003-4839-569X, Oxford Archaeology, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume45
Issue3
Pages250-277
Publication date2026-05-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOxford Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0262-5253 • E-ISSN: 1468-0092
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ojoa.70018
OpenAlexW7160423641
LanguageEN
References cited57

This study presents a technological analysis of 18 old patinated scrapers and spalls, mostly of Quina technology, that were recycled into new scrapers of the same type at the Late Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave, Israel (420–200 kyr). Recycling scrapers into the same Quina and demi‐Quina types offers a rare, controlled opportunity to investigate a technology’s biographical character. Comparing the tools’ pre‐ and post‐recycling phases demonstrates that the selection of old items was highly intentional, guided by the original tool’s morphology and the affordances of its pre‐existing features. This process suggests an enacted perceptual experience, demonstrating a skilled recognition of the potential remaining in discarded objects. A sophisticated understanding of material properties and technological trajectories is thus revealed. This behaviour suggests a form of historically‐aware material engagement, offering new insights into the cognitive and technological capabilities of Late Lower Palaeolithic humans and providing a basis for future cognitive studies

Affordance · Cognition · Perception · Process (computing) · Scraper site · Selection (genetic algorithm) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access